Xu Zechen: Running Through Beijing

It was nearly midnight when he returned to Weixiuyuan. Dunhuang was at home, watching a film. He stood up when Bao Ding came in the door, saying, “I thought you weren’t coming back.” Bao Ding planted a foot in his chest, sending him sprawling back onto the bed.

“Bad enough that you screwed her,” Bao Ding shouted, pointing at Dunhuang, his eyes bloodshot. “But did you have to let other guys screw her too? You call yourself a man?”

“You mean…Qibao?” Dunhuang clambered back up from the bed.

Bao Ding gave him another boot, knocking him back down. “Don’t you fucking play the fool, she’s your woman!”

Dunhuang stood up again, his fist in Bao Ding’s face. “What the hell are you talking about?! What’s wrong with Qibao?”

“She’s a fucking nightclub girl!” Bao Ding suddenly collapsed in the chair, exhausted.

“What are you talking about?”

Bao Ding told him. There was no mistake, unless she had a twin sister. Dunhuang called her phone, it was still off. He put on his shoes, meaning to go to Huayuancun. Bao Ding said, “Forget it, worry about it tomorrow.” Dunhuang shoved his hand away: “This has got nothing to do with you!”

Dunhuang took a taxi to Huayuancun. He pressed the intercom buzzer for ages, but no one answered. Bony Beauty wasn’t at home either. Dunhuang waited outside, sleeping and waking in turns, until he was covered in dew.

At 5:10 am, the sky already lightening, Qibao came back, a satchel over her shoulder. When she saw Dunhuang’s dew-soaked hair and clothes, she subconsciously tugged at her dress.

Dunhuang’s eyes were mean. “How long have you been doing it?”

“Doing what?” she asked.

Dunhuang’s temper flared, and his palm hit her right cheek. Qibao pulled back in shock, then gave him a slap in return.

“What business is it of yours what I do?”

“We’ve been sleeping together this long, I should think it’s my business! You’re my goddamn woman!” Another ringing slap landed on her left cheek.

She returned the compliment, also on his left cheek. “Since when am I your woman! Did the Party Chairman sell me to you?”

Dunhuang delivered a third slap.“How fucking shameless can you get?”

Her response landed almost simultaneously. “Oh, so you feel shame, do you? When you’re out fucking women? You, Bao Ding, Kuang Shan — which of you feels a scrap of fucking shame?”

“You sold it to Kuang Shan, too?”

“Yeah, I sold it. I sold it to anyone who was buying.”

A year ago, Kuang Shan had gone to the same nightclub and requested her, and they’d gotten to know each other. After Dunhuang had treated him to dinner, he had called Qibao, but she wouldn’t see him. “Are you afraid he’ll find out?” asked Kuang Shan. “I can’t speak for anyone else, but I can keep my mouth shut.” They weren’t strangers, after all, and he was paying. In the end she went to see him.

Early risers in the surrounding apartments watched from their windows as the young couple in the garden exchanged slaps. They were just getting into the show when the young man turned and walked away. Of course, they couldn’t hear the last thing he said, “That’s it. It’s over.”

Dunhuang kept selling DVDs. He didn’t contact Qibao, and she didn’t come to see him. Occasionally, he’d meet Xiaorong on the street or at the entrance to some supermarket. Her belly was impressive, given its size and how much time had passed, it could very well be twins. And if it were twins, which one would be called Kuang Xia? Xiaorong always had a small bag of DVDs with her, and as she spoke to her customers she’d glance from side to side. Kuang Shan smoked a little ways off, looking like an innocent bystander, a locked case at his feet. The rat bastard had been spooked, and was pushing Xiaorong and her belly out onto the front lines alone.

Bao Ding stayed in Dunhuang’s room for two more days before renting a room of his own by Madian Bridge. He was back doing fake IDs, plenty of his old contacts were still around. When he was leaving, Dunhuang gave him 1,500 kuai, everything he’d saved, and Bao Ding didn’t stand on ceremony. He told Dunhuang not to take it all to heart, in a place like Beijing anything could happen.

Life was simple once again. Dunhuang turned his full attention to his DVDs, selling them and watching them. He found a few new regular outlets, and sales were good — most importantly, it was safe. That was a piece of parting advice from Bao Ding — if you went to jail, you’d have to start all over again. After a day of making runs he’d return to his room, lie on his bed, and think of Qibao and Xiaorong, but only for a few moments before he put in a movie and started watching. Sometimes he’d look at the actresses and note their similarities to Qibao or Xiaorong, then berate himself for being pathetic. He was a man, wasn’t he? Why couldn’t he be a little more goddamn manly?

It seemed the rest of his life could easily pass this way.

One day at four in the morning he was awoken by his cellphone ringing. The movie he’d been watching was finished, and the screen was a pure blue. It was an unfamiliar number, and a woman’s voice on the other end told him that Qibao had been caught. He asked who was calling. She wouldn’t say, only adding that a dozen girls had been caught together. Dunhuang’s first reaction was to ask, “How much will it cost?”

“Five thousand, more or less,” she replied.

Things had finally blown up. After he hung up the phone Dunhuang realized the voice had been Bony Beauty. He should have known long ago they were in the same line of work — she must have dodged the sweep. Five thousand. An astronomical sum. Dunhuang called Bao Ding but his phone was off, so he got in a taxi and went looking for him. Bao Ding had been sleeping; as soon as he heard Dunhuang needed money he understood, “Qibao?” Dunhuang nodded. Bao Ding told him to go back and keep trying to think of solutions, he would talk to a couple of friends and see how much he could borrow. The longer they delayed the harder it would be. Dunhuang could think of nothing else but to visit Xiaorong and Kuang Shan in Furongli, they were his only friends. Xiaorong asked what had happened. Dunhuang wouldn’t tell her, he only said he was in urgent need of a loan. Kuang Shan wanted to press the question but Dunhuang shot him an evil look, and he shut up.

“We’ve got that seventeen hundred,” said Xiaorong. “You could take that for now.”

“We were going to use that money to restock tomorrow,” said Kuang Shan.

“It won’t kill us to restock a few days later,” she replied.

Dunhuang stared at Kuang Shan and pictured slapping him across the face. Kuang Shan reluctantly drew the money from a drawer. Dunhuang ignored him, and thanked Xiaorong.

By seven the next morning they’d collected six thousand three hundred kuai. They took a cab to the police station and were directed to the waiting area, where they sat until everyone’s statements had been taken down. Bao Ding said to the police officer, “Girls from the countryside have it hard in jail, I hope to get her out as soon as possible.”

The officer said, “None of us want to drag this crap out longer than necessary.” They made their decision quickly, and there was no negotiating the price — five thousand. It was routine stuff, everyone knew that once the fine was paid the suspect would be released. It was a tedious process, that was all. Bao Ding helped Dunhuang though the formalities, but just before Qibao was released he said he had something to do, and left.

Dunhuang stood in the doorway, and watched Qibao, her hair in disarray, follow a policeman out. She kept her head down, and didn’t raise it even when she was standing in front of him. Dunhuang tucked the hair hanging over her face behind one ear, then put an arm around her shoulder and said, “Let’s go.”